Nicetas of Chalcedon

Saint Nicetas, hierarch, was archbishop of Chalcedon in the eighth century, in the time of the struggle against icons, and a confessor of the true faith. The Church commemorates him on 28 May by the old calendar, which is 10 June by the new.

According to one source, he governed Chalcedon between 726 and 775. He was removed from his see and struggled until his death in a monastery of Palestine. In the canon of his service, written by the priest Joseph of Constantinople, Nicetas' brother, Saint Ignatius, is also praised. A village on the island of Lefkada in Greece bears the saint's name.

The Serbian source says that in his youth he renounced the world and withdrew to monastic labor. He was noticed by the leaders of the Church and placed on the throne of hierarch of Chalcedon. As hierarch he was especially merciful to the poor and cared much for orphans and widows. When the emperor Leo the Armenian rose against the icons, Nicetas took the defense of the icons, rebuking the emperor and explaining their meaning. For this he endured many humiliations, ill-⁠treatment and imprisonments. At last he was sent into exile, where he also died.

The sources do not agree on the time: Leo the Armenian reigned between 813 and 820, and so cannot be fitted within the years 726 to 775 of the other source.